Stress and the Balance with Nutrition!

by Erleen Tilton 

Nutrition plays a most important part of our lives if we want to feel good, be free of sickness and disease, and enjoy great energy and vitality.  We often don’t value foods for their nutritional content or think of them as good or bad for us in a nutritional sense when we eat, as we should. 

I found out the hard way how different foods do and will affect the body.  However, this experience changed my life, not only in the way I feel, but in the way I approach foods, how I eat, and my mission in teaching others. 

I was a young mother, just having had my second child.  I went through depression as well as was experiencing several health difficulties.  I began visiting a naturopathic doctor for neck and back adjustments who offered to do a series of tests to diagnose my problems.  The outcome of the tests were: colonitis, hypoglycemia, valley fever, anemia, vitamin deficiency, and being high in toxic chemical drugs.  However, this doctor was unaware of my dozen or more breast lumps, the arthritis in my knees, my headaches, depression, and pollen allergies. 

I went through a series of cleanses as well as an abrupt change of diet to “whole foods”.  I wasn’t sure what “whole foods” really were but this diet consisted of mostly raw fruits and vegetables, sprouts, raw nuts and seeds, whole grains (cooked or sprouted), legumes (bean family), and not much else.  I was taken off all processed foods including whole wheat breads, all milk products, and most meats, only being allowed white meats on a weekly basis.  Was this easy for me?  I can tell you that this kind of change was very difficult for me, but I eventually made up my mind that if I wanted to enjoy my life, my family, and fulfill my purpose, I needed to enjoy good health.  So I stuck to it and was able to see a total turn around in my health within about 6 months, being literally free of all of the above disorders. 

This kind of turn around really altered my life and caused me to study and research foods and their affects on the body.   Literally everything we put into our mouths will affect us for good or for bad.  Foods will give us energy, strength and healing, or they will pollute, clog, and de-energize our systems.  As the latter occurs, our systems become stressed causing obesity, depression, mood swings, lack of energy and concentration, and all kinds of physical, mental and emotional disorders. 

Just as an automobile must have good fuel to perform properly, so must our bodies.  Our fuel for high energy and performance comes in the way of nutrients from good quality foods.  If we have diets of highly processed foods (white flour, white sugar, high fats and salt) with little nutrient value, then the body cannot function to its capacity, and it becomes stressed and over loaded, sick and diseased. 

If we would include the following suggestions in our daily eating and drinking habits, we will be much more capable of handling stressful situations. 

1. Think of the foods God gives us in their whole food form: raw fruits and vegetables, raw nuts and seeds, whole grains, legumes (beans and peas).  These all have a higher nutritional content than processed foods, and they are naturally high in fiber and provide the right balance of carbohydrates, fats and proteins.  We must have good nourishing foods at every meal for the body to have the nutrients to perform properly.  As we do, we are more capable to think and react logically to the pressures and situations that we face.  What we eat really does make a difference in how we act and think!
 
2. Take the time to eat and chew your food properly.  Good digestion of foods ultimately begins in the mouth as the saliva breaks down the chemicals in the food in conjunction with the chewing process.  Onto the stomach, the digestion process works for your body to get the nutrients and energy it needs from the food you eat, so give yourself at least 20-30 minutes to eat a meal, sitting down and relaxing while your body goes to work and does its job. 
 
3. Think and prepare ahead so that in this fast pace world, you always have good nourishing foods to grab in a moment’s notice.  Easy-to-grab foods are: fresh fruits such as apples, pears, and bananas (which all come “pre-packaged”), raw nuts (you can carry these in a baggie in purse and car), fruit leather, dried fruit and raw nut mixes, whole grain rolls and crackers, whole grain health bars, etc.  Of course, you will find many of these in low and high quality brands, so read labels and choose those minimally processed.  There is a lot you can grab on the run that has good high quality nutrition.  Take the time initially to plan, purchase and prepare.
 
4. What we drink is just as important.  Drinks such as alcohol, sodas, coffee, hot chocolate, and most fruit juices (frozen, bottled) are dehydrators and de-energizers. What we really need is good pure water!  Every function in the body greatly relies on water. Lack of water causes us to become dehydrated, which restricts the activity of all these functions.  Our best body’s performance comes from having a clean system, and good pure, distilled water is our best cleanser, therefore it is cleansing and energizing to the system. 
 
We cannot just simply eliminate all the pressures of life, yet we can learn to manage and eliminate the effects of stressful situations by applying principles of good nutrition, eating, and drinking in this manner.  Focus on the real whole foods and pure water and you can expect the body’s best performance!